The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at LinkedIn
Interview
After speaking with the recruiter I had a brief homework assignment with some data analysis and role-specific questions. I then spoke with the hiring manager briefly again before going on site. Everyone was very friendly and the recruiters were terrific. The questions were mostly behavioral and about my experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a complex data analysis problem that you have worked on, how you structured your approach, and any problems that you encountered in your solution.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at LinkedIn (Omaha, NE) in Sep 2015
Interview
The recruiter was great and very professional. My first interview was good but the hiring manager had problems with their bluejeans video chat. I made it on to the second round with a director and it didn't go well. She also had problems with their video software. She was about 10 min late and we had a 20 minute chat. She was more interested in my military background and why I left. Which did I prefer military or corporate? She seemed more interested in what I send my international team for care packages than my current experience which was very similar to what they were looking for. Honestly, i had a bad experience and felt that she didn't care for my veteran experience and the fact that I'm a also a minority, which is a very common trend with silicon valley corporations. Being a veteran is an asset, i traveled to over 25 countries, lead multiple teams, projects and I gained a ton of experience in developing reports. I left the military 8 years ago and I have done many great things since I left all with the same company. I don't know what she was looking for but I have an advance degree, I speak two languages, I have over 15 years of experience in leading people, I work for another tech company and I'm used to the pace and challenges of fast moving environment. I really good with data mining and sourcing. I got no real feedback from the recruiter so, I'm only left to wonder why I did wrong.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about yourself. Why did you leave the military? Do you prefer military over corporate? Why are you leaving your current employer? Why linkedin? What are you known for? Are you good with data? How do you build rapport with your team? What do you send in your care packages to your international team?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at LinkedIn (Bengaluru) in Sep 2015
Interview
Applied in LinkedIn portal for Staff Engineer. Got a call from recruiter on the next day and she explained the details very nicely. Recruiter response was prompt. Recruiter scheduled the Phone Screen (PS) very next day for the Staff Engineer role.
I've 8+ years of experience in software development (working in world's #1 online retailer for 3.5 years).
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions were simple (same as described in glassdoor). Interviewer called on time, but didn't introduce himself. Directly jumped into questions (lags professionalism).
There was no NDA. So, I think I can share the questions,
1) Search for "WordDistanceFinder linkedin".
http://www.careercup.com/question?id=5725709041401856
2) Search for "TwoSum with test()/store()" methods.
https://github.com/fcarriedo/algorithms/blob/master/exercises/twosumtest/TwoSumTest.java
I discussed and coded more than two solutions for both problems. Wrote bug free code (verified my code after the interview in other websites).
My mistakes:
1) I explained that we can use Set instead of HashMap verbally. I didn't type it in the editor. Looks like the lazy interviewer didn't make a note on that. Seems hiring committee raised concern on data structures (actually I used HashMap to support future enhancement - again didn't type that in the editor).
2) I didn't add comments in the code - Its an interview, don't expect someone to type comments - thats why I was explaining.
3) Used short variable names (asked interviewer is short notation fine with him... i.e., Used "idx" instead of "index". He was fine with that). Again I didn't mention that in the editor.
Based on above three mistakes, the hiring committee said they'll consider me for Sr. software engineer. but definitely not for Staff Engineer. That too after another PS. Now I'm wondering whether I've to proceed my candidature with LinkedIn (I've an offer for a director level position with another $3B company).
I've taken more than 100 interviews for my company. But this experience disappoints me.
Advice to LinkedIn: Please give trainings to your interviewers. Make sure you collect right data points about your candidates (either ask your interviewer type a detailed feedback, or you talk to the interviewer). Because what you see is not the complete picture of the truth.
My advice: Whatever you want to convey in a phone screen, make sure you type them in the editor.